Saturday, July 26, 2008

I selected two shiny, firm, dark purple Italian eggplant that were 2" in diameter and about 6" long. I'm writing this because I'm very happy with my technique of cooking it as follows.

Lay out left to right two dinner plates and one small flat bottomed bowl all right next to one another. Let two seasoned cast iron fry pans come to a medium heat dry and with no oil in them while you're working on the eggplant In the bowl add 2 tbls.each of olive oil and water, add two eggs. Whip it up with a fork.Slice the eggplant with out peeling into disks about 1/4" thick. Dragging the tines of a fork down the length of them adds a place of purchase for the knife to dig through the sometimes bouncy resistance.

On the plate just to the left of the bowl add 3/4 c. of fine corn meal and a 1/4 c. whole wheat or white flour and mix together and spread out. . Add more later if need be.

Dip the slices in the egg mixture and wipe off excess on the side of the bowl. Lay on the bed of corn flour. When the plate is covered turn each of them over and pat the flour into the eggplant until they are dry enough to transfer to the empty plate on your left. Keep stacking them on top of one another till their all breaded . Lay them in the dry pan fairly close together.

They will kind of bake on the pan and the oil in the egg mixture as well as the flour is enough to keep them from sticking. keep watching but about 10 min. a side.

You'll notice that there is no salt in this recipe. I personally like the eggplant to be addressed from the outside by any salt or sauce; it's subtle integrity formally introduced at the plate.